Grauman's Egyptian Theater and Sunset Boulevard

The other night my charming husband escorted me to Grauman's Egyptian Theater
in Hollywood, CA for a special screening of one of my favorite films...Sunset Boulevard!

I've lived in SoCal most of my life and yet I've never been to this glorious movie-palace of old until now!

Double-leopard action just as a tribute to the film, I promise!

Graumans Egyptian has a wonderful history, and its foremost claim to fame is that the first-ever Hollywood movie premier was held here.

The Egyptian theme was all the rage back then, and they did it up nicely with murals, faux sandstone walls, and imposing columns.

Inside are somewhat-creepy Anubis dog statues and lots of other fab details.

Above is the best shot I could achieve of the glorious ceiling with my little point & shoot camera. You just have to trust me...it's breathtaking!

The film was being screened as part of a Film Noir festival put on by
American Cinematheque

Anyone who knows me knows that I love me some films noir, but my absolute fave is Sunset Boulevard. Wait, I lied! First Double Indemnity, THEN Sunset Boulevard.

If you haven't seen it, run-run-run to your Netflix queue and hook this baby up! You'll thank me.

Honestly, it's not just because of the plethora of leopard prints in the film that draw me to it, though that's a perk :-)

There are SO many quotable, classic lines in this film, and it's had such an incredible impact on the history of movies.
We were treated with a newly-restored digital copy of the film and it was like seeing it for the first time again!
"...and all you wonderful people out there in the dark!"

Are any of you Noir fans? What's your favorite film? I'd love to hear!

Sneak Peeks

I thought you lovely readers might like to see a sneak peek of some awesome things (if I do say so myself) that will be going into my Etsy shop soon. So here they are:

40's hand-painted blouse

I've got to find a really good & careful dry-cleaners for this gorgeous shirt, and while it's being cleaned I need to do some research. Anyone out there know much about these blouses? I remember seeing a blog post (or something out there in the internets) about these recently, and now that I need it, I can't find it for the life of me.

Catalina playsuit

Look at this swimsuit/playsuit! The bottom has the craziest design...you sort of step into it (like a diaper, for lack of a better description) and then tie it around you. The good thing about the design is that it makes it very adjustable. Another funny thing is that the label (Catalina) actually lists the WEIGHT range they recommend, which is 115 to 130 lbs. instead of the more usual size. Isn't that odd? I'm guessing it didn't go over well...

Plummy 1940's handbag, suede

I love it when I find old things from a previous owner inside purses. Frequently I find handkerchiefs (clean, thankfully!) hairpins, and coins. This purse had two movie ticket stubs from the Selwyn Theatre, August, 1948. Sadly, it didn't say the name of the film or show, but it did say that the price was $1.35.

Summery striped dress, late 50's/early 60's

I love the vertical stripes on the dress. They really are flattering! This dress needs a bit of work...I have to replace the zipper and mend a little hole on the front.

high-waisted shorts with cute Asian-inspired print

I wish these shorts would fit me! Aren't they cute? The print looks like lots of pretty parasols. But alas, the waist is seriously the size of my thigh. Well, pretty close to it anyway ;-)
These beauties will all be going into the shop as soon as they're cleaned & fixed up!